George Lakoff

George Lakoff

@george-lakoff.com

Professor Emeritus at UCBerkeley. Best-selling author of The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant.

16.2K followers96 following43 posts

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

Strongman, Weak President Trump's personification of strict father morality makes him a fearsome candidate. And it's why he sucks as a president. For @gilduran.com & @george-lakoff.com's @theframelab.bsky.social, I wrote about how Trump's frailty leads him to lash out, making him look even weaker.

theframelab.orgTrump is a Weak PresidentTrump's approval hits 37% as his strongman psychology prevents him from fixing the economy he broke. The strict father model is now his trap.

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

It’s time to start the 2028 primary and step over this donor-coddling "Strong Floor, No Ceiling" nonsense. For @gilduran.com and @george-lakoff.com's @theframelab.bsky.social, I wrote about why DC Dems won't appeal beyond the donor base. There's another way to put an expiration point on Trumpism.

theframelab.orgDemocrats’ New Slogan Is a Donor-Class DisasterIt’s time to start the 2028 primary and step over this donor-coddling nonsense.

George Lakoff reposted

Ben Collins
@bencollins.bsky.social

Replying to @bencollins.bsky.social

ICE is also the fault of a complicit press. How, where and who did ICE recruit? Why isn't every newspaper in the country devoting themselves to finding out who is in this brand new secret police force that now terrorizes America? It's the definition of newsworthy. The answer is: they're afraid.

George Lakoff reposted

FrameLab
@theframelab.bsky.social

When you repeat a false argument, even for purpose of saying it’s “not true,” you help make the argument stronger in the minds of your readers. Because of the way your brain’s neurocircuitry works, you activate the frames you are trying to negate. www.theframelab.org/cut-the-not-...

theframelab.orgCut the Not: Why banishing one word can power up your communicationA FrameLab tip for supercharged writing and communications

George Lakoff reposted

Chris Geidner
@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

NEW: It does matter. Defending the rule of law in the Trump era is essential. Trump cannot ignore constitutional limits on his power — or any court order enforcing those limits. We must keep saying so. Tonight at Law Dork, I make my case:

lawdork.comIt does matter. Defending the rule of law in the Trump era is essential.Trump cannot ignore constitutional limits on his power — or any court order enforcing those limits. We must keep saying so. Also, for paid subscribers: Closing my tabs.

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

Trump can’t help remind the world why limiting and then removing his power is the only feasible response to an insatiable lust for domination. New from me in @gilduran.com and @george-lakoff.com's @theframelab.bsky.social Trump Has a Plan—Now Democrats May Finally Have One Too

theframelab.orgTrump Has a Plan—Now Democrats May Finally Have One TooAnything that gives people the combination of anger and hope is essential right now, writes Jason Sattler.

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

Important point. The press generally allows the right-wing to frame issues — and then accepts the framing and helps to spread it.

This post is unavailable.

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

"A strategic initiative is a plan in which a change in one carefully chosen issue area has automatic effects over many, many, many other issue areas." - @george-lakoff.com For decades, the right has figured out how to use one horrible goal to achieve other horrible goals that they can't say aloud.

Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

If the IRS deprives Harvard of its tax-exempt status, that's very bad for Harvard but it's also a catastrophe for the IRS. Instead of a neutral agency that enforces tax law, it will become a tool of partisan warfare. It may never recover.

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

In 2018, an HBO host blasted a guest for saying Trump is nicer in private than he is on TV: “He’s running the world now. What does it matter that he was nice to you at Thanksgiving?” The host? Bill Maher. Now he’s the one cozying up to Trump. Why? www.theframelab.org/how-donald-t...

theframelab.orgHow Donald Trump Rolled Bill MaherBill Maher says he didn’t “go MAGA” after dining with Trump — but he spent his HBO monologue mocking liberals and softening Trump’s image. Here’s how he got played.

George Lakoff reposted

David Fenton
@dfenton.bsky.social

President signs Exec Order to raise temperatures and sea levels, burn down homes, raise the price of food, make insurance unaffordable, make Earth unlivable. Oh, and poison your kid’s tuna fish sandwiches with mercury. #climatecrisis

whitehouse.govReinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. In

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

Nazi legal theorist Carl Schmitt — one of Peter Thiel's favorites — wrote about a "state of exception." That's when an "emergency" allows a dictator to suspend rules & seize power. Trump's strategy is clear: Create fake emergencies to justify extreme policies. www.theframelab.org/unveiling-tr...

theframelab.orgTrump’s Fake Emergency Over Trade Deficit ExposedTrump’s trade war is based on a fake economic emergency, distorting facts to justify tariffs, gain power, and threaten U.S. stability.

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

What happened to "weird?" For @gilduran.com & @george-lakoff.com's @theframelab.bsky.social, I autopsied the word the base loved & consultants killed. Looking forward, I think this shows how Dems fixate on swaying "moderates," which is untenable as Musk/Trump focus on scamming non-voters.

theframelab.orgWhat 'Weird' Reveals About the Democrats' Messaging CrisisThere are no magic words. But moral attacks your base loves are the core of a winning strategy.

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

Once again, direct use "strict father" metaphor. cc @george-lakoff.com

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Kudlow: "Buying cheap goods is not a real prosperity, and we don't have to accept that. So you lay the law down, that's all. Look, all the badly behaving children in Asia and elsewhere are coming home to papa. They're all on the phone begging for mercy."

George Lakoff reposted

Wajahat Ali
@wajali.bsky.social

Please take 30 minutes & listen to my convo with NERD REICH editor @gilduran.com - one of the few people who understands WHY Trump, Musk, & the broligarchy are celebrating America's economic collapse. It sounds scary & absurd, but Gil has all the receipts. thelefthook.substack.com/p/why-musk-a...

thelefthook.substack.comWhy Musk and the Broligarchy Are Loving the Economic Collapse of AmericaThe Nerd Reich, as coined by journalist Gil Duran, is celebrating and welcoming America's economic and political collapse so they can profit off our pain and move towards creating their technocracy.

George Lakoff reposted

Nick Knudsen
@nickknudsenus.bsky.social

BOMBSHELL report from Washington Post finds that DOGE cuts at the Social Security Administration are killing the agency. They’re making SSA dysfunctional so that they can privatize Social Security.

George Lakoff reposted

Matt Jordan
@mattjord.bsky.social

Sometimes the framing of events or leaders is more important than the details the stories about them contain. In this episode we talk with Framelab's @gilduran.com about the dangers of amplifying authoritarian-friendly framing when covering Trump. newsliteracy.psu.edu/podcasts/cal...

newsliteracy.psu.eduCall me Daddy: The Danger of Strongman Framing - News Literacy InitiativePresident Trump has frequently been framed as a “strong man” and “strict father.” When news outlets lean into this type of rhetoric, they miss a vital o

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

The “abundance” slop fails for a basic reason: Politics is a clash of moral worldviews, not a spreadsheet of policy options. Period. People vote their values, not their infrastructure preferences. If people consistently voted for economic bounty, only Democrats would win.

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

What I’m reading: “Owned: How Tech Billionaires on The Right Bought The Loudest Voices On The Left” by @eoinhiggins.bsky.social A stunning exposé about the power of tech money to corrupt. Anyone else reading and wanna compare notes? www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/eoin-...

hachettebookgroup.comOwnedA “devastating” (Nation) examination of how a cabal of tech-billionaires is colluding with once-idealistic journalists to create an entirely new media ...

George Lakoff reposted

David Fenton
@dfenton.bsky.social

“It makes no sense that a President would crash the economy while allowing a foreign-born billionaire to rip apart the government. This goes against every rule in politics. Trump’s poll numbers are sinking yet he’s taking no steps to correct. This is the logic of a suicide bomber.” @gilduran.com

nytimes.comOpinion | It May Not Be Brainwashing, but It’s Not Democracy, EitherHow the federal government became “an outdated software system that must be replaced.”

George Lakoff reposted

Gil Durán
@gilduran.com

Did you ever notice how moving to "the middle" usually means a Democrat must embrace Republican positions? That's because there is no actual "center" in politics. It's a false concept that somehow only tilts politics to the right. Republicans never move an inch, except further toward extremes.

George Lakoff reposted

🗽LOLGOP🗽
@lolgop.bsky.social

It's @george-lakoff.com's Truth Sandwich. An essential skill for anyone who does any communications. Yet, over and over, people start by privileging their opposition's message or just outright lies. Only way to deal with guys like Elon and Trump.

It's ME(Jaime)@exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social

Ah, someone else states it here: